focal issue 291

Every Filipino knows who Dr. Jose Rizal is in our country’s long and rich history. But if you ask who is considered the “Father of the Filipino Language,” many of us don’t know what to answer. Is our sense of patriotism dwindling as the years go by? Do we ever give importance to the significance of our self-determination as a sovereign country ruled by its own people, with values and traits innate to our race, and who have a distinct national language (albeit the many different dialects used in each regional ethnicity) taught mandatorily in our nation’s educational institutions?…….